Confirmed with Link: McDonagh + Miller to Tampa Bay for Namestnikov + Howden + Hajek + 2018 1st + conditional 2019 1st

[Ghost of jas]

Of course.

But let's also not lose sight of the fact that Canadian Juniors still produces the highest amount of NHL talent. Granted a lot of leagues have closed the gap and offer their own unique brand of competition, but putting up 45 goals and 115 points in the WHL is also not a common occurance.

Does that make him an elite, first line center? No.

But I think he's progressed beyond the point of being seen as a very good third line center. I think there's more potential there.

I'd be more concerned if this was a kid who hovered around a certain level and then suddenly shot up in his last junior season, but that isn't the case. The progression has been significant, but consistent. I'm also encouraged by how he's done in different situations.

I think he has a legit shot to be a key piece of what we're trying to put together.

Howden is the player I am most intrigued by. If he truly has Stepan’s hockey IQ, but in a 6’3” frame and better skating ability, that’s a huge get for this organization.

 

[GregSirico]

I am fine with them changing the culture, but again they need to not get too carried away. Falling in love with pre-draft prospects or really any prospect/current nhler because they ooze character yet are short on talent is not really a great idea.

I didn't get that feeling in the interview. I got the feeling that if you lack character but you're some amazing player, they might be less likely on you as someone who has ability but has a good work ethic. I for one applaud this. It's like building a business, you can hire all the smart people you want with all the skills, but if they have a lackluster work ethic, their ceiling will never be reached. However, if you value work ethic along with ability, there's a better chance players will reach their ceiling and perhaps surpass it.

 

[GregSirico]

I was not in favor of giving Miller or McDonagh the kind of money they probably are going to ask for. The culture of the team stinks right now. AV has to go. He's not the answer going forward with a young team. Miller was a major problem. He's lazy and dumb on the ice. He's atrocious in the playoffs. Rangers set the tone with the Andersson pick that they were going to change the culture of the team. All the prospects had the same things in their scouting reports. Leaders. High hockey IQ. Great work ethic, not taking shifts off. Consistently win puck battles. Very hard to knock off the puck. Don't panic with the puck, don't turn it over and make smart decisions.

Those qualities are exactly the things our players have been missing the past 2 years.

This was the exact feel I got in that interview and by all the press conferences GMJG has had. He seemed to be highly focused on culture and character and work ethic.

 

[Jonas1235]

seems to be a logjam at center and LW. Not many RW guys...

 

[Off Sides]

I didn't get that feeling in the interview. I got the feeling that if you lack character but you're some amazing player, they might be less likely on you as someone who has ability but has a good work ethic. I for one applaud this. It's like building a business, you can hire all the smart people you want with all the skills, but if they have a lackluster work ethic, their ceiling will never be reached. However, if you value work ethic along with ability, there's a better chance players will reach their ceiling and perhaps surpass it.

Agree, within reason it makes sense, but filling the team with Tanner Glass, McLeod and stuff is not the way to go either. It's like having people who can engineer something amazing but have no ability to use tools to put it together. One without the other means nothing gets done.

 

[GregSirico]

Howden is the player I am most intrigued by. If he truly has Stepan’s hockey IQ, but in a 6’3” frame and better skating ability, that’s a huge get for this organization.

GMJG talked about him a bit today and his play at the WJC and his leadership quality.

 

[ponytrekker]

Of course.

But let's also not lose sight of the fact that Canadian Juniors still produces the highest amount of NHL talent. Granted a lot of leagues have closed the gap and offer their own unique brand of competition, but putting up 45 goals and 115 points in the WHL is also not a common occurance.

Does that make him an elite, first line center? No.

But I think he's progressed beyond the point of being seen as a very good third line center. I think there's more potential there.

I'd be more concerned if this was a kid who hovered around a certain level and then suddenly shot up in his last junior season, but that isn't the case. The progression has been significant, but consistent. I'm also encouraged by how he's done in different situations.

I think he has a legit shot to be a key piece of what we're trying to put together.

To be fair, now that I look further, Tampa specifically has had a consistent amount of success drafting out of the WHL.

 

[Inferno]

It's important to remember...the rangers retained half of nash's salary and took back half of a bad contract for 2+ years. The coyotes ate half of yandles salary when we acquired him...that increases the haul for both. Rangers didn't eat any salary or take back any bad money. I'm sure they WANTED to but that doesn't mean that Tampa has to do it...they decided to pay the entire contract.

That helps explain the different values in the 2 deals.

 

[Beacon]

I would love to end up with Zadina or Tkachuk. No shot we get Dahlin unless we get lucky with the lottery. But we have enough assets that even if we are a few spots from where Zadina/Tkachuk are, we could make a move to get there.

I think realistically, our best shot is at Boqvist. Dahlin, Svech, Zadina, Tkachuk, Boqvist. If we finish 5th worst, and get the #6 overall, it makes sense to draft an offensive right handed defenseman with explosive scoring ability.

 

[GregSirico]

Agree, within reason it makes sense, but filling the team with Tanner Glass, McLeod and stuff is not the way to go either. It's like having people who can engineer something amazing but have no ability to use tools to put it together. One without the other means nothing gets done.

The real win is somewhere in the middle, you want Evgeni Malkin a guy who has world class skill and busts his ass every shift. That needs to be the template.

 

[Jonas1235]

Rangers got McDonagh in a fleece deal with MTL, drafted and developed JT Miller.

These trades are what you can do when you develop players. Which the Rangers have done way better in last 10 years. The previous 40 years they did nothing other than 94 team.

 

[PuckLuck3043]

This was the exact feel I got in that interview and by all the press conferences GMJG has had. He seemed to be highly focused on culture and character and work ethic.

The coach has a lot to do with this also. I hope this means that AV is fired after the season.

 

[Edge]

Howden is the player I am most intrigued by. If he truly has Stepan’s hockey IQ, but in a 6’3” frame and better skating ability, that’s a huge get for this organization.

I think he's got a high floor, reasonable ceiling at this point.

His meat and potatoes is his intelligence and adaptability to the game. He's not the flashiest guy on the ice, but he's not unlike Andersson in the sense that he often seems to be in the right place.

 

[JayMan82]

I was not in favor of giving Miller or McDonagh the kind of money they probably are going to ask for. The culture of the team stinks right now. AV has to go. He's not the answer going forward with a young team. Miller was a major problem. He's lazy and dumb on the ice. He's atrocious in the playoffs. Rangers set the tone with the Andersson pick that they were going to change the culture of the team. All the prospects had the same things in their scouting reports. Leaders. High hockey IQ. Great work ethic, not taking shifts off. Consistently win puck battles. Very hard to knock off the puck. Don't panic with the puck, don't turn it over and make smart decisions.

Those qualities are exactly the things our players have been missing the past 2 years.

This is a huge reason why Zuccs is gonna stick around for the long haul. He is the epitome of fight and effort on this team.

 

[RGY]

I think realistically, our best shot is at Boqvist. Dahlin, Svech, Zadina, Tkachuk, Boqvist. If we finish 5th worst, and get the #6 overall, it makes sense to draft an offensive right handed defenseman with explosive scoring ability.

I really want Zadina. He has just the ability to score that I really like. A flare to his game. Love Tkachuk, he is a gamer imo. I would be happy with either. I get what youre saying with Boqvist. But I don’t know. It is a good situation to be in. How do defensemen vs forwards look towards the end of the 1st round? What seems to be more prevalent/stronger?

 

[eco's bones]

I would give both Spooner and Namestnikov longer contracts to keep their AAV down. I'd do the same with Hayes and Skjei.


Spooner - 5 years @ $4.25m per season

Hayes - 5 years @ 3.75m per season

Namestnikov - 5 years @ $3.5m per season

Skjei - 8 years @ $4.25m

I'd like to see Spooner and Namestnikov play first before committing to long term contracts for either. I don't think either is a legit 1st line winger---not on a winning team anyway---that is if they're not put on a line with elite players like Kucherov and Stamkos. Which is to say how good would Sheary be without Crosby?--and that in the Rangers scheme of things as the team gets better either of them settles on the second line or maybe even the third which might happen anyway as they age more. To me they seem like 3-4 year deals---no trade restrictions.

Hayes IMO has been the Rangers best center this year. I don't mind that deal so much though I think he might make what you have Spooner making. By best center I mean he's produced almost what Zibanejad has and Mika has played 1st line with tons of power play time. Hayes has not had very much of that and has taken on the role in defending against top lines and done a pretty decent job. He also has been one of our best players lately while most all of the team has been in free fall.

If Skjei would sign for that cap hit and term I'd think about it but I'd also think about a bridge deal. This season has not been as good as last year. Last year he looked like a future top pairing defenseman. This year more like a future second pairing defenseman.

 

[Edge]

To be fair, now that I look further, Tampa specifically has had a consistent amount of success drafting out of the WHL.

I liked Tampa's system more than any of the other systems we were linked to as we approached the deadline.

I think there were some systems who had a better top prospect, but I preferred the Bolts' depth.

 

[Beacon]

80 percent of the people on here don't know what the hell they're talking about and haven't seen our own kids play, you want me to look at another board for the surround sound effect?

So how come the 20% of the Tampa fans who do follow their prospects aren't upset about losing them?

 

[Ghost of jas]

seems to be a logjam at center and LW. Not many RW guys...

Let’s see how things look after the upcoming draft.

 

[Edge]

I think realistically, our best shot is at Boqvist. Dahlin, Svech, Zadina, Tkachuk, Boqvist. If we finish 5th worst, and get the #6 overall, it makes sense to draft an offensive right handed defenseman with explosive scoring ability.

My gut tells me Boqvist is the guy we come away with.

 

[GregSirico]

The coach has a lot to do with this also. I hope this means that AV is fired after the season.

Boomer didn't address that Q, but Boomer did say AV is not the guy you want when grooming young players who need to be held accountable.

 

[TomLaidlaw]

It's not about the pining for immediate wins, it's about the return. We do the same trade, but we keep Miller or we also get Foote as part of the same package, and there's mass celebration on this forum. McD+Miller for Names/Foote/Howden/Hajek/#1/possible #1 would be greeted with a parade on HFNYR.

I hear where you are coming from but I think we have to have faith in the front office until they give us reason to question them. Gorton and our scouts were really high on Hajek. It sounds like that was the deal breaker for this. They must see something in him that they really like. If they are very high on both Howden and Hajek and they turn out to be correct then this deal is a very solid deal for us. My overall feeling is that I think it is way to early to have an opinion on this deal until we see it play out over a couple of years. If these two guys bust then I will be right with you being critical of this front office.

 

[Edge]

So how come the 20% of the Tampa fans who do follow their prospects aren't upset about losing them?

So how come 20 percent of our fans are still bitching about Andersson?

C'mon man, you know the answers to these questions already. You don't need me to freestyle for you.

 

[GregSirico]

I was not in favor of giving Miller or McDonagh the kind of money they probably are going to ask for. The culture of the team stinks right now. AV has to go. He's not the answer going forward with a young team. Miller was a major problem. He's lazy and dumb on the ice. He's atrocious in the playoffs. Rangers set the tone with the Andersson pick that they were going to change the culture of the team. All the prospects had the same things in their scouting reports. Leaders. High hockey IQ. Great work ethic, not taking shifts off. Consistently win puck battles. Very hard to knock off the puck. Don't panic with the puck, don't turn it over and make smart decisions.

Those qualities are exactly the things our players have been missing the past 2 years.

Spot on. That is basically what GMJG said without saying it.

 

[Ghost of jas]

It's important to remember...the rangers retained half of nash's salary and took back half of a bad contract for 2+ years. The coyotes ate half of yandles salary when we acquired him...that increases the haul for both. Rangers didn't eat any salary or take back any bad money. I'm sure they WANTED to but that doesn't mean that Tampa has to do it...they decided to pay the entire contract.

That helps explain the different values in the 2 deals.

People continue to not understand how retainage plays into these trades. By having not having to retain on Stepan, and having AZ assume all of the $6.5 million AAV, the Rangers got the equivalent of at least two 2nd round picks.